Road-drag.



W. A. TRAVER.

ROAD DRAG.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 11, 1908.

909,966. Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

,MHH 3 Z IMQ/@nm By mmffdmm WILLIAM A. TRAVER, OF WEEDSPORT, NEW YORK.

ROAD-DRAG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909'.

Application filed May 11, 1908: Serial No. 432,110:

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM A. TRAVER, of Weedsport, in the county ofCayuga, in the State of' New York, have invented newandusefulImprovements in Road-Drags, of which the following, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and eX-actdescription.

This invention relates to certain improvements in road'l drags and isequally useful in leveling up and padding race tracks and also in makingnew roads and crowning or truing up old roads.

My main object isto produce a practically all steel, comparatively lightyet highly efficientf and durable road scraper'which may be manufacturedat a comparatively small costi and? in which the scraper blades areinterchangeable andr reversible'k to permit the use of either edge nextto the ground when 'one edge becomesl worn or otherwise impaired Anotherobject is to provide the normal top side ofthedragor scraper withsuitable shoes or runnersproject-ing beyond the plane ofthe longitudinaledges of the scraper bladesso that the entire machine may be invertedand easily drawn longitudinally along the ground or pavement over railroad? tracks and other obstacles with but little resistance.

A1 further object is to provide the dragy with opposite parallel scraperblades spacedv some distance apart and curved longitudinally formingopposite concavo-convex scrapers, either sidel of which may be presentedinY advance of the other to throw the dirt from the centerof theroadoutward or from the sides inward.

A still further object` is to connect the opposite ends ofr4 eitherside'of the drag by a chain or similar draft devicer to which a drafthookor similar connection may be attached` at' any point eithercentrally when it is desired to level race tracks andsimilar courses ornear one endfof the other whenfit is desired to bring the maximum draftor power near suchend? asin making gutters or crowning the road bed.

@ther objects and useswill be brought out inthe followingvv description.

In the drawings-Figure l is-a top plan ofaroad drag embodyingthe variousfeatures off my invention' showing the 'draft' device attached totheconcaveside Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged sectional views takenrespectively on lines 2 2 and 3 3', Fi s 1. Fig. et 1s a side'elevationof one end o the drag 1n an inverted position showlng the runners incontact' with the ground. Fig. 5y 1s a detail elevationl of the drafthook andlink of the draft chain embraced thereby- This drag comprisesessentially a steel frame composed of opposite parallel side piecesy-l-, opposite parallel endf pieces -f2-, corner braces --3ed and.I steelscraper blades ll-.

The side pieces -1- preferably consist off steel anglel bars of' similarlength curved angle bars parallel with each other and' of a1 lengthsubstantially the distance between the side bars-4*, with their lowerflanges dis posed in ai horizontal position projecting t'oward eachother and their upper fianges projecting from the outer edges thereofThe braces 3'- are alsoformed of steel and are secured to thc'top/`faces of the bars land under sidesoff' thelbars2- by suitable fasteningmeans as rivets or bolts -5--, said braces being locatedfat theinner'corners or junctions of the side/bars with the end bars as bestseen in Fig: l.

The opposite ends of the side bars rest upon and are secured'to the-topfaces-of the adjacent portions of the braces--3 which are, therefore,interposed between said side and end bars and serve to reinforced andstiften the frame against any strains to which it may be subjected, theVend bars -2- being located a short distance inwardly from the ends ofEthe side bars.-

The blades -lare secured'to the outer sides of the side bars-L- bysuitableJ fastoning means as bolts -G- and are'ofA sub-y stantially thesame length and' curvature as said' side bars' but of greater verticaldepth so as to extend some distances above and beneath the side bars towhichthey are securedv as best shown lnFigs. 2 and 3, said blades beingalso made of steel capable of withstanding the strains to which they aresubjected. These blades are removable andI interchangeable andinvertible so -that when one edge becomesworn they -may be removed andinverted and interchanged from side to side and the other edgespresented to the ground without disturbing the connections between theside and end bars of the main supporting frame.

It is now clear that one of the working sides of the drag is concave orcurved inwardly and horizontally from end to end while the oppositeworking side is curved or convexed and parallel with the concave sidethus permitting either side to be used according to the work required,each side being equipped with a pair of attaching elements as eyes -7-for the attachment ofV a draft chain -8- shown in Fig. 1 as connected tothe concave side of the drag..

The object in employing a chain as a draft connection is to enable thedraft hook as -9- to be attached at any point between the ends of thechain according to the work which it may be desired to perform, saiddraft hook being adapted to detachably embrace any one of the links asshown in Fig. 5. For example, when it is desired to level up race tracksor any similar plain course, the draft hook -9- may be attached to thecenter of the draft chain -8- and the chain attached to either theconcave or convex side of the drag or if it is desired to plow a furrowfor forming a gutter and to throw. the dirt toward the center of theroad bed, the chains may be attached to the concave side of the drag andthe draft hook attached to the chain near the side where it is desiredto plow the furrow as shown in Fig. 1. On the other hand if it isdesired to throw the dirt from the center of the road toward the sidesthe chain may be attached to the opposite or convex side of the drag inan obvious manner.

In order that the entire drag may be drawn over railroad tracks andother obstructions without meeting undue resistance, I provide thenormal top of the frame with a series of in this instance four runnersor shoes -lO- which are made in the form of steel straps arched upwardlyat the center and secured at their ends directly to the braces -3- andouter sides of the cross bars Q- The central portions of these shoes orrunners normally project some distance beyond the top of the scraperplate -tand when it is desired to transport the entire device from onelocality to another, said device is inverted bringing the shoes incontact with the ground whereupon the chains may be attached to the eyes-7- at either end. of the drag to permit said drag to be drawn endwiseupon the shoes in which case, theV lower edges of the scraper blades runclear of the ground as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

In order that the driver may ride upon the drag and to provide suitablemeans for supporting weights, I provide the drag with a foot or runnerboard or plank 11P- running lengthwise of the frame and secured at itsends substantially midway between the ends of the cross bars Q bysuitable fastening means as bolts -12-. Y

The operation of this device will be clearly understood upon referenceto the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings, andit is evident that it has a wide range of uses not mentioned,particularly in filling ruts by reason of the ycur`ved form of bladewhich when drawn along the road bed at any'suitable angle throws thedirt from the sides inwardly and slowly toward the center where suchaccumulated dirt is distributed into and fills the ruts.

What I claim is:

l. In a drag of the class described, a frame composed of oppositelengthwise side bars and cross bars secured thereto and holding saidside barsa xed distance apart, and scraper blades removably secured tosaid lengthwise bars, said scraperblades projecting vertically beyondthe lower and upper sides of the frame. a

2. In a drag of the class described,'a frame composed of oppositelengthwise side .bars and cross bars secured thereto and holding saidside bars a fixed distance apart, and scraper blades removably securedto said lengthwise bars, said scraper blades beingL removable andinvertible upon the framewhereby either of their longitudinal edges maybe brought n xt to the ground.

3. In a drag of the class described, a frame composed of oppositelengthwise side bars and cross bars secured thereto and holding saidside bars a fixed distance apart, and scraper blades removably securedto said lengthwise bars, and runner shoes secured to the frame andnormally projecting above the upper edges of the scraper blades wherebywhen the drag is inverted, it rests upon the runner shoes.

4. A drag comprising parallel concavoconvex side bars andtransversecross bars rigidly secured to the side bars, and concavoconvex scraperblades secured to the side bars. 1 Y

5. A drag comprising parallel concavoconvex side bars and transversecross bars rigidly secured to the side bars, and concavoconvex scraperblades secured to the side convex scraper blades secured to the sidelbars, a chain attached to one of the side bars near its ends, and adraft hook adjustable along the chain.

7. A drag comprising parallel concavoconvex side bars and transversecross barsv rigidly secured to the side bars, and concavoconvex scraperblades secured to the side bars, and runner shoes secured to the normalupper side ofthe frame and projecting above the plane of the upper edgesof said blades whereby the inversion of the drag brings the runners intocontact with the vground to hold the blades clear thereof.

8. A drag comprising parallel opposite concavo-convex side bars spacedapart, cross bars connecting and rigidly secured to the side bars,concave-convex scraper blades secured to the side bars, runner bracesrigidly secured to the junctions of the side and cross bars, runnershoes secured to said braces and to the cross bars, a foot plank securedto the cross bars, a draft chain secured to one of the side bars nearits ends, and a draft hook adjustably connected to the chainintermediate its ends.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 6th day of May 1908.

WILLIAM A. TRAVER. Witnesses:

WAYNE A. WHITMAN, ISAAC CHADDERDON.

